Conductor

Our Conductor: Sandra McMillan

Sandra McMillan has been the founder, musical director, conductor, and indeed driving force of the No StringsAttached Community Band of Sudbury since its inception in the Fall of 2000. A life-long resident of the community, Sandra was born in Sudbury on November 28, 1978.

While growing up, Sandra's main early exposure to music consisted of singing in local choirs. To this day, she continues to sing, and in the past has sung in the Bel Canto Chorus in Sudbury.

Sandra first learned to play the saxophone in grade 8. She attended Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School in Sudbury, graduating in 1997.

Throughout her high school years, Sandra continued to play the saxophone. She prefers to play the tenor sax, but has played soprano and alto sax as well. In her grade 12 year, she had the honour of participating in the Northern Ontario Band Festival "All Star Jazz Ensemble."

In 2001, Sandra graduated from Laurentian University's Honours B.A. program in music at Huntington College. For her Honours thesis at Laurentian, she undertook a project which involved organizing and running a community concert band.

After completing her thesis, some of Sandra's band members insisted that she continue to conduct the newly-formed community band on an ongoing basis. The hope at that time was that the band would eventually become a permanent fixture in the community. Sandra agreed, and the band eventually became known as the "No Strings Attached Community Band." And the rest, as they say, is history...

Since graduating from Laurentian University, Sandra went on to earn a B.Ed. from Nipissing University, in North Bay.

Sandra has been one of the leading voices in the community for amateur music as well as an advocate for the role of music education. In 2007, she received the prestigious "Alumni Young Leader Award" from the LU Alumni Association. This award recognizes the accomplishments of our young Laurentian graduates.

Sandra enjoys working with the public and is fully bilingual in English and French.

She has considerable experience in planning and organizing community events. Her hobbies also include custom woodworking, in which she has operated her own home-based business.

During her spare time, Sandra enjoys outdoor activities such as kayaking, hiking, and soccer.

During Sandra's occasional absences, her conducting role has usually been filled in by various guest/interim conductors; including Jack Broumpton, Matt Beatty, Dave Wilks, Erin Morel, Marc Taillefer, David Young, and Linda Berger, among others.

During her recent 2-year Sabbatical, Sandra's conducting duties were being handled by music educator and percussionist, David Young. Sandra may be contacted at: slkmcmillan@yahoo.ca.